Murray Khouri
Australian clarinettist Murray Khouri was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1941, to Lebanese parents. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and made his solo debut at Wigmore Hall, playing Matyas Seiber's Clarinet Concertino.
He played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Ballet Orchestra, Prague Metropolitan Orchestra, NZBC Concert Orchestra, NZBC Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
He spent much of his later life in Australia, where he formed the Australian Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Australia Ensemble, but also a period in England, where he created the record company Continuum Records, working with many artists including John McCabe.
He was also a writer, journalist and broadcaster, and spent time in Wellington, New Zealand, where he broadcast for Radio New Zealand, and was artistic director of the inaugural Wanganui Spring Music Festival, and founded the Whanganui Spring Festival concert series in 2008.
Murray Khouri died in his late seventies, two weeks after having heart surgery, on 27 October 2018 in Southern Highlands Private Hospital, Bowral, New South Wales, Australia.
Further information: www.johnmccabe.com/murray-khouri.htm